Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.- It’s a Corporate World (Album Review)

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise when you find out Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott are from Detroit. Between their affinity for dressing in stock car racing gear during live shows, titling their debut EP “Horse Power,” and the fact that they perform under the tongue-in-cheek moniker Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Motor City comes off as the only probable option for the duo songwriters’ home base. Listening to the pair’s debut album It’s a Corporate World, however, leaves an entirely different impression of their local origin, one that is as sunny and breezy as any town along the West Coast. Delivering a disarmingly beautiful mix of vocal harmony pop alongside blippy electronic beats, Epstein and Zott honor the melodic tradition of The Beach Boys (the two included an amazing cover of “God Only Knows” on their EP) to create one of the best debuts of the year.